Need to review and rectify the activities of 'summer retreats'

As Thanh Nien reported, public opinion was recently stirred up when Ms. GNN posted on social media an article stating that her son had a "horrifying experience" at a summer retreat at Cu Da Pagoda. Accordingly, after 5 days of the retreat, Ms. GNN discovered that her son's hand was swollen. Upon questioning, she learned that her son had been hit hard on the head and hand by a friend with a wooden chair.

Cần rà soát, chấn chỉnh hoạt động các 'khóa tu mùa hè' - Ảnh 1. — Cu Da Pagoda in Cu Khe Commune

Ms. GNN believes that the organizers of the retreat at Cu Da Pagoda were irresponsible with the monks when they allowed nearly 600 people to practice in a small space; the bathing and living conditions were lacking. Therefore, Ms. GNN has warned parents to consider carefully if they intend to register their children for the retreat at Cu Da Pagoda.

Ms. Pham Thi Luong Duyen, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cu Khe Commune, said that after receiving the information, the People's Committee of Thanh Oai District sent a working group to the pagoda to inspect. Previously, the pagoda had submitted a document to the People's Committee of Cu Khe Commune regarding the organization of a summer retreat in 2023. The content of the document stated that 10 retreats would be held in the summer.

"The retreat that Ms. GNN's child attended was the second retreat. The commune requested to temporarily stop the third retreat, and at the same time reported the incident to the Thanh Oai District People's Committee for guidance. If the district approves, the pagoda will continue to organize the remaining retreats; if the district does not approve, it will request to stop it," Ms. Duyen added.

Who monitors and supervises these courses?

Responding to the above information, reader Tat Huyen commented: "These retreats should only be for students, the children are still young and cannot take care of themselves, not to mention the large number of people. We need to review these retreats, are the facilities adequate, can the human resources handle such a large number of people?"

BĐ Hieu Nguyen raised the question: "How is the quality of the summer retreats? Have they been approved and have the facilities been inspected by the authorities? Such a large program requires a lot of preparation, we cannot just do it blindly and affect the reputation, causing people to have a negative view of the retreats even though their original purpose was very meaningful."

"Organizing summer camps for children without safety standards, work rules... will one day cause great harm. Moreover, it will also affect the reputation of religious establishments," warned BÐ Quoc Chinh.

Specific regulations are needed.

Many opinions say that authorities need to have specific regulations for summer retreats like this.

"Promote the role of family and society in building Vietnamese culture and people. That means that family comes first, is one of the first factors that determine the personality of children. The pagoda is a religious worship facility like any other religious facility, only participating socially in one aspect of human spiritual life (spirituality). But the children's lives need much more than that. I think the state needs to have regulations on these training courses, specifically: Where do the children eat, stay, and study at the pagoda? Who manages it, what are the requirements for the managers there? Which organizations and individuals are allowed to organize these activities? It is necessary to clearly understand that the children's summer activities at the pagoda are to understand and practice a good philosophy of life", BÐ KM suggested.

BÐ Mộng Hùng stated his opinion: "There should be more specific regulations for retreats like this, they should not be spontaneous. Issues regarding quality and facilities must also be ensured, not turning a retreat into a nightmare for children. That will lose its inherent value."

"Practice is a need of a part of the people, but how to manage it is the responsibility of the authorities. Cases of arbitrary organization need to be promptly corrected. I hope the authorities have specific regulations for the activities of summer retreats," suggested BĐ Trúc Nhân.

* I think this practice program should only be applied to high school or college students, because children who are too young will have many limitations in their ability to absorb and take care of themselves.

Ngoc Nam

Source link